Juror Lands In Jail For Not Disclosing Arrests

Four-month Sentence Called Highly Unusual

Stacey Forbes went to the Broward County Courthouse for jury duty. He left in handcuffs, headed straight to jail.

That was three weeks ago. Forbes, 19, now sits in a cell serving a four-month sentence for criminal contempt. His crime: Failing to disclose during jury questioning in a drug case that he has been arrested before and that his father had a prior arrest.

A juror being jailed for contempt is rare, but local attorneys as well as legal experts say Circuit Court Judge Eileen O'Connor's decision to lock one up for months is something they've never encountered. O'Connor ruled that Forbes had knowingly lied under oath about his arrests -- including one that occurred less than two weeks before he reported for jury duty March 22.

A prosecutor's hunch led to the discovery of Forbes' arrests before he was sworn in as a juror. But Forbes, a high school dropout, said he didn't intentionally mislead the court about his background. He said he had problems reading a written jury questionnaire. He said he became confused because while he has been arrested, he has never been convicted of a crime. Forbes has been arrested twice in the past year, but prosecutors have dropped both cases.

"When she said four months, I was shocked," Forbes said in a jailhouse interview Wednesday. "I didn't cry until I got into the cell, thinking, `Wow! This really happened.'"

One bid to get out of jail has already failed with O'Connor refusing to reconsider Forbes' sentence after his attorney argued that the dollar store employee is "near illiterate." Education records show Forbes has been tested as having a seventh-grade reading level.

Forbes' attorney, Bill Gelin, filed an emergency motion Wednesday for Forbes to be freed on an appellate bond. Forbes' appeal revolves around him not having an attorney present when O'Connor sentenced him to jail.

"The judge has really abused her discretion here particularly in light of the evidence that you have a young, scared kid who didn't comprehend what was going on and now he's sitting there for four months," said Gelin, who is representing Forbes free of charge.

New York Law School professor Randolph Jonakait, author of the 2003 book The American Jury System, said he has never heard of a potential juror receiving such a sentence and called the case "highly unusual." Other experts echoed his sentiments.

"I have personally never heard of a sentence that long, particularly when there was no harm in lost trial time or an overturned conviction," said Paula Hannaford, principal court research consultant with the National Center for State Courts.

O'Connor, who is on vacation until next week, could not be reached for comment. The former federal prosecutor was appointed to the bench by Gov. Jeb Bush in May 2003.

A few Broward County jurors have been found in contempt the past five years, but none involved in the publicized instances ever spent a day in jail. A Plantation retiree who disappeared during jury selection in a February 2004 trial was sentenced to work a week in the courthouse's jury processing room. A prospective juror who said she couldn't be fair after a judge refused to excuse her during jury selection in a September 2002 trial had to write a letter of apology. A potential juror in a January 2001 trial was held in contempt and sentenced to six months' probation after a judge believed she was faking her inability to understand English. The judge later reversed the decision and cleared her name.

Trial consultant Amy Singer said it's critical for potential jurors to be honest during jury selection, otherwise they could compromise the integrity of any verdict and it could be appealed.

Public Defender Howard Finkelstein agrees, but said a judge must examine the reasons why the potential juror lied and if there was incentive to lie, such as a payoff or creating havoc in the judicial system. He said that up until the Forbes case, he has never heard of a Broward County juror getting such a stringent sentence.

"One has to wonder why such a Draconian sentence, if the person who didn't tell the truth didn't do it for any reason that benefited him," Finkelstein said.

Forbes said he had no motive to lie to be placed on the jury. He didn't even want to be a juror once he heard it was the case of a Hollywood man arrested in August on drug charges, he said.

Records show Forbes was arrested in October 2004 in relation to three car break-ins in Pembroke Pines but prosecutors declined to file criminal charges. Pembroke Pines police arrested him again March 10 on a felony marijuana possession charge and he posted a $1,000 bond. Prosecutors filed paperwork, though, on April 5 -- two weeks into Forbes' contempt sentence -- that they would not pursue charges in the marijuana case.

Early in jury selection, O'Connor asked prospective jurors if anyone had pending criminal charges against them, according to court transcripts. Forbes failed to raise his hand.